Aloha my darlings, this story was inspired by a picture I saw, I can't name the artist but it was enough to give me the damn plot bunny. This is my first Free! fic, at least the first one I published, and I'm publishing it for Christmas, for all you guys, but also for my dear friend Lu-chan.

In regards to pairings, I don't know where it will end, because this is very spontaneous and not planned. For those who know of my OTP don't assume that it will end in that way; it may not be the case, lest I would have just written them in the first place. In short, there is no final couple as of yet, but perhaps audience opinion will sway me, who knows.

Anyway - this AU is one of my absolute favourites because I love period things and castles and fairytales and, like, dragons and shit. There will be dragons in this, can I get a hell yes? Absolute total fantasy AU people.

I really hope you enjoy it, sorry for my stupidly long AN, they won't always be this long I swear. For all my old readers, hey bitches long time no see, eh?

WARNINGS: For later chapters, graphic detail of anatomy, sex, violence, swear words, blood, dragons and other scary things, etc. M rated for reasons people.

DISCLAIMER: Free! Iwatobi Swim Club belongs to Hiroko Utsumi, but everyone and their uncle knows full well that Rin belongs to yours fucking truly.

Curiosity killed the cat. But knowing brought it back.

The crowds of people lining the streets screamed in a delight that was not truly theirs. Haru stood silent as his father stood on the balcony of their palace, addressing the nation he had summoned to hear him speak. Roses showered over them as he stood rigidly beside his father, every hair on his forehead in perfect place, his clothing immaculately white and blue (their kingdom's primary colours). His face was expressionless as he stared not at the people, but at the sky in front of him. When his father raised his hand into the air, the noise ceased to exist, and there was no sound but for the wind blowing in his ears.

"Glorious people of Iwatobi," he called strongly, "I am sure you are all wondering why I called you here today, and so I will get straight to the point!"

Brilliant.

"I am here to say that this is a day of great celebration," he continued, "A day in which we have decided to join the two powers of the world, Iwatobi and Samezuka, together once and for all! To end the war and poverty in both kingdoms and bring about peace to our people! I know that in the past Queen Matsuoka has brought upon us great strife, but we returned the favour! Both sides have suffered and it is finally time to make truce!"

He gestured grandly to Haru, who stood beside him silently.

"Your crown Prince Haruka is to be wed to the Queen's only daughter, Princess Gou, in three days time!"

Without another word, his father turned on his feet and walked back into the palace, the cheers of the crowd behind him. Haru waiting until his father had walked past him to follow in his steps and fall in pace beside him.

"I don't understand why they were so happy," said Haru bluntly, once the noise had died out, the deeper they go into the palace.

"Many of them have never known anything but war, Haruka," replied his father, "If ending the war through your marriage brings peace to them, they will sing our praises for hundreds of years."

"But I don't want to marry a Matsuoka," said Haru, as he had a thousand times.

His father stopped, and turned, placing his hands on his son's shoulders in a placating gesture. His expression was sympathetic, yet unyielding, and Haru knew right then that no matter how much his father loved him, no matter how much he did or did not understand, he would not be moved on the subject. Not at all.

"Gou is a beautiful young woman," he told Haru, "She is not to blame for the death of our people, or our ancestors. You must learn this now, or your marriage will never be happy."

"I've never even met her," said Haru, "How could I be happy?"

"I never met your mother before the wedding day," he told him, "And look at us; we fell in love eventually."

"I could never fall in love with her," he mumbled quietly, "She'll have the same features, the red hair, the red eyes..."

His father sighed, and patted him on the shoulder lightly. "I'm sorry son, I know this is a lot to ask of you. But think of the lives you'll save. And she isn't one of those monsters from the armies; she's just a little girl."

Haru nodded in acceptance and the two continued on their way. They separated when they reached the Megaron, as his father had many important duties to see to, and as he so often found it, Haru was alone again, feeling the remnants of the dejection he'd felt from his father informing him of the marriage. He crossed to the long banquet table, and sat down, covering his face with his hands and closing his eyes, deep in thought.

In fact, he was so out of it, he wasn't aware of the company, and it was not until a hot wave of mackerel filled his nostrils that he even opened his eyes. There was a silver platter before him, a just-cooked mackerel sitting whole on top, a pair of hands either side of it. He turned around to find himself face to face with his closest friend.

"Mako," he acknowledged.

Sir Makoto Tachibana took a few steps back to allow Haru to take in his appearance. It was no different from usual, the gleaming silver armour, with the intricate gold carvings, and the blue, woollen cloak that flowed behind him. Haru liked the cloaks, it was like the Knights of Iwatobi took a piece of him around with them. At his waist was his sword, the hilt encrusted with beautiful sapphires, and Haru let a rare, small smile grace his expression as he looked upon his lifelong friend.

"Don't sound too happy to see me," joked Mako.

Haru turned back around, his gaze returning to the mackerel. Without another word, he grabbed his cutlery and dug in. Mako chuckled affectionately, and crossed round the table so that he could seat himself opposite Haru. All he could say was that it was a good job it didn't bother him when people watched him eat, because Mako's gaze was unmoving from his face. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes whilst Haru ate, but there was a subject hanging in the air, one Haru knew would be unavoidable. And so he initiated it.

"You knew about the marriage before me, didn't you?" The statement was not an outright accusation, but Haru felt himself unable to keep it slipping into his tone ever so slightly.

Mako had the decency to look incredibly guilty, and he sighed to himself. "I had my suspicions," he said honestly, "Though I didn't think it would be... this soon."

"Hm," was all he got in reply.

"Haru?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

Haru put down his fork and looked up at Mako, whose face was warped with worry, guilt, and apology. He knew he was taking his moodiness out on Mako, which was unfair in the grand scheme of things – Mako never decided on that arrangement.

"I'm fine," he told him firmly.

"Are you sur-"

"I'm glad you're back from your expedition, Mako," he interrupted. Mako's eyes widened for a moment, before the easy smile fell back onto his face, and he went back to watching Haru eat, both knowingly avoiding the subject that was both playing on their minds. It wasn't just that his betrothed was a Matsuoka. Oh no, it was much more than that.

His betrothed was also a girl.

I hope you like it so far! The chapters will probably get longer the more I get into it, but this is just a general introduction. So far we have a grand total of approximately 2 Free! characters, and a fair warning - I will be dishing them out slower than you'd probably like. See you in 10 years Nagisa. Jk.

Or was I joking? How the fuck would you know, huh?